Closing Bell: Bike Lanes and Organized Religion Don't Mix
The Hasidim are not the only religious group with a lack of respect for bicycle lanes. In the middle of the day yesterday on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, church goers were using bike lanes as their own personal parking spots—and not a ticket in sight.
The Hasidim are not the only religious group with a lack of respect for bicycle lanes. In the middle of the day yesterday on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights, church goers were using bike lanes as their own personal parking spots—and not a ticket in sight.
Long-time Brooklyite here:
1) Bike lanes, if they belong in the city at all, belong on quiet residental one-way streets, period. Those blocks tend to have no bus traffic, limited truck traffic, cars traveling at slower speeds, and plenty of signage. Putting bikers, bus and truck traffic on highly trafficed (3 and 4 lane streets) is in my mind one of the dumbest things DOT has done and contributes to the thousands of people who refuse to ride their bikes in the city.
2) Brooklyn is the borough of churches. The churches were here before the cars, before the bike lanes, and before all the assholes that want to complain about them. Bigger churches tend to have folks that keep an eye on parishoners cars to move them in the event that they have blocked in a vehicle. I’ve even been in a church where there is a valet and pager system so that no non-churchgoing neighbor ever gets blocked in. Bikers rode past the line-up of double parked cars on Sundays for many years. This is nothing new (except to those new to the area).
3) Double-parking generally is not limited to wealthy areas. I grew up in Bed-Stuy and most of the retired teachers, police officers, transit workers, etc. would allow their neighbors who had to be out to work early parking on the “right side” while they took the parking on the “wrong side” they would then move their cars at the start of Alternate Side (as it was called), go for the paper and coffee, come back and move their cars back. It was considered a neighborhly thing to do.
What a cheapshot. There is a difference between blocking bike lanes and not wanting them altogether. Maybe it was a funeral – who knows. This is the sort of condescending hipster sense of entitlement that drive real(sic)older Brooklynites nuts.
If I as a pedestrian can get whacked by a bike going the wrong way on one of these lovely lanes then cyclists can ride around a couple of cars if need be. I’m not saying blocking ANY lanes should be condoned.
Bring it up at your community board meeting, it’s not the churchgoers fault they aren’t being ticketed.
when i was younger i too rode with abandon (as a messenger) without a helmet and survived. However, now that i have kids – on the bike – on a trail a bike – etc- I’m a lot more concerned with bike safety- not only for them- but for myself as well. While I have a car I would rather ride a bike- and I don’t think it’s particularly whiny to demand a safe way to ride. Drivers may be temporarily surprised by things like the protected bike lane on Kent ave- but I feel safer there than most places. Having said that- in the winter I ride up bedford because the wind coming off the river is brutal- so yes- it would be a lot better if there were a bike lane on bedford.
BSD- You agree _because_ you are a ‘hardcore pro-cyclist.’ Doubtless the NASCAR drivers among us find the need for speed limits, lanes and turnsignals juvenile as well.
I have many un-hardcore un-pro friends who have bikes rusting in their living rooms because they’re afraid of riding in the city. And until they get out and ride in the lanes, they’re not going to realize that they can ride in the rest of new york, generally.
But still. I agree that double-parking one day a week for a couple hours is something I’m willing to overlook… though if you honk at my ass because I’m in your bit of road going around these mofos, my u-lock is taking off your mirror.
Davide5 — the double parking phenomenon is just habit. Also, you’ll discover that the street cleaning double parking process happens on streets with more $$$. The folks on those streets tend to pay for an ‘attendant’ to move their cars back (and out of the way if someone is blocked in)
I honestly think its somewhat antisocial and unfair that (1) this double-parking thing happens rather than playing the game with the rest of us; and (2) that the City turns a blind eye.
I’m a hardcore pro-cyclist w/injuries to prove it, but agree with Expert on this. NY bikers (and Mr. Brownstoner in this case) might just be the most annoying whiny men-children there are. How the f.ck did you ride a bike before there were pretty painted lines? Did you die all the time? General community comes first, cyclists second.
As a cyclist, all this bike lane drama drives me nuts. Sure, bike lanes are nice to have, but they aren’t the only place to ride your bike. I ride upwards of 100 miles a week in the city, and I’d say about 5% of my riding is done inside a designated bike lane. Sometimes I will I ride everywhere from Coney Island to Astoria; the Battery to Brownsville. The removed Bedford segment is no more or less dangerous today than it was when the lane existed. Double parked cars, while a nuisance, aren’t the end of the world, especially on a Sunday, when there isn’t that much traffic to begin with.
Riding in the same direction as traffic, obeying traffic laws and maintaining a reasonable speed is enough to keep most people out of serious danger. The other part is making yourself visible to drivers and keeping an eye out for obstacles and what lies ahead. All this bike vs car vs hasid vs hipster stuff is nonsense. Stop whining and keep riding!
Finally a double-parking post so I can ask the question that has been gnawing at me (I have lived in BK for 10 years and still can’t figure it out, bear with me) — how is it determined which streets are allowed to double-park on alternate side parking street cleaning days? For example, no one double parks on Clinton Avenue on Thursdays and Fridays, but if I go a block over or on Washington by FG Park I see cars hanging out parked in the middle of the street until the allotted cleaning period expires on that block’s respective alternate parking days. Are certain streets designated “thoroughfares” where this practice is not allowed??
its a shame no one sets fire to churches anymore like the good ol days.